


Church Grim

by Dranovdragon



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Katekyou Hitman Reborn!
Genre: Gen, Master of Death Harry Potter
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-28
Updated: 2019-01-30
Packaged: 2019-10-18 07:20:54
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,010
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17576411
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dranovdragon/pseuds/Dranovdragon
Summary: The Scandinavian church Grim is also known as the Kyrkegrim and Kirkegrim and likewise defined as the protective revenant of an animal buried alive in the church foundation. It dwells in the churchtower or some other place of concealment, or wanders the grounds at night, and is tasked with protecting the sacred building.





	1. Church Grim

_**Church Grim** _

_**(Harry Potter, Katekyo Hitman Reborn)** _

_**(Grim!Harry)** _

_**(Master of Death Harry)** _

**_disclaimer I don't own Harry Potter or Katekyo Hitman Reborn_ **

 

Harry figured out that he had become the Master of Death after he comes back when Voldemort had killed him.

When he was bought back to Hogwarts and revealed that he wasn't dead he tries to call upon Death itself so he finally can kill Voldemort once and for all. Death appears and listen to his request and is willing to help but it will have something in return for its cooperation. Harry smiled sadly but didn't wait for a second to give in his own life as repayment. Death accepted.

"You know about the prophecy right, Tom? The one that started all of this between us. One sentence was ' _And the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not.'_ I finally figured it out what the power is. It is something you can give to others, but can't share with others. something that can happen naturally but most doesn't want it to happen to oneself."

"Stop speaking in riddles Potter! You will be dead before you can do anything against me!" Voldemort hissed at him.

"Well, you are almost right in that statement except it's a little different. You see Riddle, yes I will die but it will be after I have used my attack first," someone in the audience that had gathered gasped (-"no, Harry"-) "But I will take you down with me." Harry finished with a smirk.

"See the power you know not is Death itself."

A dark shadow appeared between Harry and Voldemort and Death stepped through it.

" **For you who have tried to defy me this is the time to meet your end."** Deaths voice was rough as it stated its judgment.

Death loomed over Voldemort who was frozen in place and with a quick motion of its hand made of bone it dragged a dull looking light out of Voldemort's chest. As Death turned towards Harry, Voldemort fell to the ground without anyone trying to catch him, and landed on the floor in the great hall with a hollow thud.

Death looked at Harry from under its hood, " **The price."** It stated.

When Harry made his way towards Death, the voices that had been silent during it all began to voice their disagreement.

("Harry, Harry please don't-" "Harry don't do it-" "you can't just leave use-" "Potter don't you dare-")

When Harry stopped in front of Death his skin was glowing a soft light color. He offered his hand, "Let's go" his tune sounding entirely too happy for the situation.

Death nodded before a shadow sprang from the floor and swallowed both of them and the dim light of Voldemort's soul and only left behind Voldemort's cold corpse.

 

 

_Year ?_

The last shovel of dirt was shoveled down the hole before a stone slab was thrown over it.

And with that, the præst* could finally begin his duty whit the death of the animal and the protection of Dødens Herre** finally was called.

 

 

_**Church Grim** _

_**Scandinavian Folk-Lore** _

_The Scandinavian church Grim is also known as the_ _ **Kyrkegrim**_   _(Swedish) and_ _ **Kirkegrim**_   _(Danish) and likewise defined as the protective revenant of an animal buried alive in the church foundation._

_It dwells in the church tower or some other place of concealment, or wanders the grounds at night, and is tasked with protecting the sacred building._

_It keeps order in the church and punishes those who perpetrate scandals._

_It is said that the first founder of Christian churches would bury a lamb ("church-lamb") under the altar._

_When a person enters the church when services are not being held, he may see the lamb, and if it appears in the graveyard (especially to the gravedigger) then it portends the death of a child._

_The lamb is meant to represent Christ (the Lamb of God) as the sacred cornerstone of the church, imparting security and long livity to the physical edifice and congregation._

_Other animals used to create the church Grim included a boar, pig, and horse. A grave-sow (or"graysow") the ghost of a sow that was buried alive, was often seen in the streets of Kroskjoberg where it was regarded as an omen of death._

_There are tales of the Danish Kirkegrim and its battles with the strand-varsler that tried to enter the churchyard._

_Strand-varsler is the spirits of those who die at sea, and are washed up on the shore, and remain unburied._

 

 

_Year ?_

A shadow lurked in the dark just out of the light of the torch burning in front of a tombstone. The woman noticed and turned to the two children beside her.

"I think it's time for you to hear the story of the Church Grim." She said with a smile graced on her lips gaining the attention of the two boys.

"The church Grim? Haven't we already heard it? The big black dog that protects the church right?" One of the asked. The woman looked down at them and smiled again.

"Well yes you have heard the legend of a church Grim, but this time it's about  _the_ Church Grim. He is the one who comes and takes the job of church Grim every time an animal is sacrificed for it." The woman pulled the two children up in her lap before continuing.

"He takes the form of the animal that was buried and leads it to the afterlife. He then proceeds to protect the churchyard from people who wish to harm or destroy it." Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the shadow shift again but then was still waiting for her to continue.

"But aren't there multiple Grim's at different places? How does he protect them all?" The child's eyes reflecting the light from the torch when he looked up at her.

"Well, when he first took up the title of the Grim he was granted the power to be at different places at once so that he could do his job better. And he has these bright green eyes that glove in the dark so that people know that's he's there."

The shadow blinked its green eyes at her but then moved its head in what resembled a nod before it disappeared deeper into the shadows and out of her sight.

"You must know that not all people believe in him and not many believe he is friendly but no matter what you must know that he will protect you if you are inside the border of the graveyard." She said seriously.

"But why would he protect us, mama? We haven't done anything for him." The woman's smile turned sad as she replied.

"He does all of this for us mainly for two reasons. Number one is because Death gave him this assignment after he had used its help. And the second reason is that before all of this he used to be human like us but then he had gathered three objects and he became the Master of Death."

  

 

Years later two teenagers ran into the graveyard and hide behind the tombstones in the hope of losing the person that had just killed their mother, to the sound of the church bell ringing loud and clear through the silence of the night.

A shout could be heard from the man chasing the and the boys hunched down further when the steps became louder.

A loud growl ripped through the night and a thud was heard that had them look out from their hiding place to see a large black dog attacking the murder.

One of the gasped and the dog lifted its head from its prey and looked at them with glowing bright green eyes and blood dripping from its fur down in a pool between its legs.

 

 

_**Church Grim** _

_**English Folk-Lore** _

_The English church grim usually takes the form of a large Black dog and guards churchyards from those who would profane them including thieves, vandals, witches, warlocks and the Devil himself._

_For this purpose, it was the custom to bury a dog alive under the cornerstone of a church as a foundation sacrifice so that its ghost might serve as a guardian._

_Like many spectral black dogs the grim, according to Yorkshire traditions, is also an ominous_ _portent and is known to toll the church bell at midnight_   _before a death takes place._

_During funerals, the presiding clergyman may see the grim looking out from the church tower and determine from its aspect whether the soul of the deceased is destined for Heaven or Hell._

_The grim inhabits the churchyard day and night and is associated with dark stormy weather._

_When a new churchyard was opened it was believed that the first person buried there had to guard it against the Devil._

_In order to prevent a human soul from having to perform such a duty, a black dog was buried in the north part of the churchyard as a substitute._

 

 

_Year ?_

A small girl dressed in a small white dress and a light emitting from her skin floated over her real body that was slowly being sunken down in the ground below when the soft bleating of a lamb could be heard. She looked around and saw a lamb standing a little away from the gathering of people.

"Are you the church Grim?" The lamb nodded, "so are you taking me away?" The lamb nodded again but its eyes never left her floating form.

"I don't think I can." She whispered afraid of the consequences of staying but couldn't leave her family.

The lamb slowly made its way towards her dodging the people clad in black in small graceful steps. When it was in front of her it changed form.

Instead of a lamb standing in front of her, was there now a young man with the same green  _green_ eyes but clad in black. His pitch dark hair a birds nest spread over his head.

"I could carry you on the way. Would that be okay?" His voice was light and soothing, and she nodded her head without thinking.

He came closer and slowly lifted her airy form into his arms and placed her on his shoulders.

He turned towards the gathering of people and looked up at the girl.

"Anyone, you want to say goodbye to before we leave?"

The girl nodded and looked over the people and the began to wave her hand. "Bye-bye Nirnasha." Her brother's head shot up and looked straight at her. He stilled before he began to wave back. "Bye-bye Thana'." He whispered back.

The man smiled at the boy before turning his attention to the girl again. "Come on Thana' I'll tell you the story of the 'Babbity Rabbitty And Her Cackling Stump' on the way."

 

 

Tsuna was having a bad day. Like a really bad day. It all started with his mother forgetting to wake him up in time to get ready for school so he had to run out of the house without breakfast. And then he ran into Hibari-san at the front gates of the school and nearly got bitten to death. The later in class he had forgotten his homework and got humiliated because he had forgotten it so many times the teacher pointed it out for everybody to hear.

And then finally school was done, he got chased by his bully's because they thought it would be fun to beat him up.

So here he was hiding in the graveyard close to the border of the town in the opposite direction of his house.

"Whatcha doing behind this tombstone kid?" A voice suddenly said next to him.

"Heeiii, where the heck did you come from!" Tsuna shouted in shock and nearly jumped out from his hiding place when he remembered the bully's and sat back down again but stared at the man.

"Wow, rude kid. Didn't you're mom teach you not to shout at people?" The stranger asked, "You should at least introduce yourself."

"Ah sorry! I-I'm Sa-Sawada Tsunayoshi" Tsuna said, "But you can call me Tsuna."

"Good, you call me Harry. Now I ask again what are you doing behind this tombstone Tsuna." 'Harry' asked.

Tsuna looked the man over trying to calculate how big of a chance he was to rat him out.

The man- no scratch that, the teenager only looked to be a couple years older than himself. He had pitch black hair that almost looked like it had no reflection of the light in it, was like a birds nest falling messily down to his shoulders. He was obviously foreign with pale skin and striking green eyes. He was clad in a leather jacket over a dark blue shirt and jeans. He was combat boots on too.

All in all everything about him practically screamed delinquent but the smile he was wearing and a feeling the back of his head told him he could be trusted.

"I was running away from some bully's," Tsuna said quietly.

Harry looked at him before turning his head away to look out over the churchyard.

"You choose a pretty good place to hide if you ask me." He said nonchalantly with a shrug before continuing. "Did you know that this churchyard has a grim?"

"A grim?" Tsuna asked and leaned his back up against the tombstone. "What's a grim Harri-san?"

Harry looked at him oddly. "It's Harry. Haarryy. And no san if you please. Just Harry is fine."

"Well, a grim -or a church Grim if you want its original name- is said to be an animal that leads the people that had been buried in its churchyard to the afterlife or judge if the soul is going to Heaven or Hell. They aren't as common anymore and especially not in Japan of all places. It a little bit too far from where they used to come from." Harry said it in a lazy way with a shrug of his shoulders.

Tsuna was absolutely hooked. "So where do Church Grims originally come from Harri- Harry?"

Harry nodded satisfied with the pronunciation of his name. "The Church Grim comes from old folklore on the other side of the globe. Some of the stories come from England and other comes from the country's under the banner of Scandinavia..." When Harry told the story he began to make small hand movements and Tsuna almost felt himself beginning to get dragged into the story.

Tsuna used the rest of the day just sitting up against a tombstone listening to stories of old folklore from centuries in the past, countries away about mythical creatures from a stranger he had just met.

"Then there are 'nisser'. They are most common in Denmark. They are about the size of an-" Harry was cut off from his story by a high pitch screech coming from Tsuna that shot up in the air.

"I'm sorry Harry-sa- Harry but I need to go home now. The sun is about to go down and I should have been home a long time ago. My mom is probably worried." Tsuna paused thinking about what he was going to say next. "Can we meet again tomorrow and then you can finish the story?"

Harry stood up and laid a hand on Tsuna's back to give him a push toward the gates. "Sure that's fine Tsuna. I'm going to be waiting," Harry said with a laugh. "But first you need to get home to your mom." Harry gave him one more push and walked up to the gate with him.

Tsuna gave him a long look before he turned and ran out of the gates towards his house with a "see You tomorrow" thrown over his shoulder.

Harry stood at the gate until Tsuna was completely out of sight before he turned and walked back into to graveyard and let himself shift into a smaller form. The dog walked between the tombstones on small trails before he came to a stop in front of an old grave in the back and curled up on a stone slab in front of the tombstone.

"He's a good kid Giotto, I'll give you that."

 

 

_The **church grim**  is a guardian spirit in English and Scandinavian folklore that oversees the welfare of a particular Christian church and protects the churchyard from those who would profane and commit sacrilege against it. It often appears as a black dog but is known to take the form of other animals._

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Præst, priest in Danish
> 
> **Dødens Herre, the Master of death in Danish


	2. Flower Meanings

_**Flower meanings** _

 

It was like the Sky was mocking him. This day was not the day that the Sky should be cloud-free and the sun high up high making it too hot to have dark colored clothes on. Tousan didn't look like he minded the heat but he hadn't gotten the sad expression of his face since they had gotten the news. A terrible accident had occurred in the town center, and a woman had lost her life. The news had hit them both like a truck ironically the same thing that had happened too kaasan. She was just supposed to go get groceries and then come home so that they could play in the garden. His beautiful mom should just have come home again, she could call him Taka-chan all she wanted he wouldn't mind, not anymore, just don't let this be real. Just don't lower the coffin down the hole.

"Come on Takeshi, it's time to lay down the flowers."

Yamamoto Takeshi really began to hate that they had engraved a date after her birthday numbers.

 

~—~—~—~

 

_Her soul was absolutely beautiful. She shone brightly right over the gap in the ground in front of all the people that couldn't see her, the dress they had clad her in flowing around her in lazy waves. Her bright blue light seemed to calm them just by being hit by the shade of her person._

 

_~—~—~—~_

 

Takeshi was excused from all activities including school the days after the funeral. He used the first day to just sit in his room and try to process that all of what had just happened and kaasan was never coming back again. His tousan brought the food to his room but only left after he saw him take a few bites of it.

The second day he talked with tousan and used the rest of it looking through all the cardboard boxes in the attic and trying to find every picture she was in. They took the most of them and framed them and put them up around the house.

He had a week before he should come back to school again and that suddenly felt like far too long to do nothing. So that's how he ended up at the graveyard again sitting in front of her tombstone.

Tracings her name engraved into the cold stone with his finger eyeing the Lilies around it. Dropping the flowers, he had plucked on his way, up against the white stone trying to make it look pretty but gave up and let the flowers lay on the ground. Kaasan was the one who would always make bouquets out of the flowers she had gathered when they walked home together when she had come took pick him up from school.

The tears pricked in his eyes when he ran through ran out of the gate and running through the streets on his way home.

 

~—~—~—~

 

_**Lilies** _

_The lily flower in all its various forms is commonly considered to mean_

_Royalty and regal bearing,_

_Motherhood and fertility,_

_Purity and the beauty of youth,_

_Passion and drive,_

_Renewal and rebirth,_

_As the flower most often associated with funerals lilies symbolize that the soul of the departed received innocence after death._

 

_~—~—~—~_

 

_The flower crown was placed carefully on the head of the girl by slender fingers._

" _And I hereby crown you as the princess of the churchyard. May you stand tall as long as it is intact." A voice playful serious._

_The girl with the flower crown straightened her back and looked at the figure in front of her._

" _Does this mean I rule over you now? Bow down before me Servant." She said with a giggle._

" _No, no gods, no. A king never bows to anyone or anything in his path. He rules over you, my dear. He is here to make sure that you never find your Prince Charming but you get a happy ending without any bloodshed." The man shook his head making his hair already messy hair_   _get messier._

" _Then you must be the king of messy places." He squawked._

 

_~—~—~—~_

 

Takeshi kept coming back to the churchyard after his second visit. He always had flowers with him to the grave that he had either plucked in the roadside or his tousan had given him a little money to buy a bouquet.

This was the last day before he had to return to school again. He had his little bouquet with a few mismatched flowers he had plucked from the road.

When he came to her grave, there was already someone there, a man was sitting before the tombstone humming to himself and didn't notice Takeshi stepping closer.

The mans half long dark black hair was thrown into a messy bun at the top of his head, with what looked like a stick stuck through it, while he was busy arranging some small blue flowers out in front of him. A leather jacket laying thrown aside beside him and sitting crossed-legged in the grass the man was a strange sight.

He suddenly turned and looked over at him from where he had frozen when he had seen the man.

"Are you coming to visit her?" The stranger asked from the ground making no impression of him moving anytime soon when Takeshi nodded. Instead, he turned his head back to the flowers on the ground and clapped on the space next to him, inviting him to come and sit down.

When Takeshi remained standing unmoving the man began to talk instead.

"You're her son, right? And the flowers are probably meant for her too." The stranger nodded to himself before turning around again and smiled up at him with a blue Forget-me-not outstretch in his hand towards him.

"Do you want to learn the meanings of the flowers?"

 

~—~—~—~

 

_**Forget-me-not (Myosotis Silvatica)** _

_Flower essence,_

_As described by Patricia Kamnisk and Richard Katz, the forget-me-not flower essence "is important to be taken into consideration after the initial stage of the mourning feeling caused by a dear relative's death, it can also be very useful to one who never fully resolved the isolation and abandonment issues after the death of an important family member, or a friend, during childhood."_

_This beautiful flower came to be known as the forget-me-not, associated in the language of flowers with true love- the love that never dies._

 

_~—~—~—~_

 

_She turned as if feeling his presence, with her hair lifting from her shoulders in a none-existing breeze._

" _It's been a long time since we last saw each other now hasn't it Kuro?"_

_He made his way over to her still in the form of a big black dog and failed to answer her question, resulting in a small laugh escape from her lips._

" _Come on, what happened to the sweet mysterious boy that always was at the churchyard. The boy who would braid flowers into my hair in the summer holidays." She said with a pout._

_The dogs head dropped in a sigh before transforming into a pale-skinned boy. "His alter ego is on a job." He responded._

_He turned away from her to look out over the people gathered._

" _You're husband is going to be broken over at having lost you. Your souls were pretty twisted together at this point. He will need a long time to undo the damage."_

" _He will get through it. He's a very capable man. If anything happens, Takeshi will be enough to remind him." Her light shone brighter as she looked at her most beloved. Tsuyoshi was holding Takeshi's hand in his own and rubbing soothing circles on the back of it._

_Harry glanced at her. "What about Takeshi then?" The small boy was slightly shaking leaned up against his father staring at the hole right under her without seeing her floating form._

_She turned fully towards him. "Please help him through it. Just try to be there for him in the hard times. I left a book for him at our previous place. Please give it to him and say it's from me."_

" _What's in it for me? I have already done a lot for you over the years. I want some kind of repayment for all of this. I know that Death gave me this job, but that doesn't mean I have to listen to you just because you didn't have time to do it yourself." He turned away from her and didn't look her in the eyes._

_Her lips formed into a sad smile that he didn't see. She had expected this from him. If there was something that she had learned all these years visiting him it was that he hated to be alone. No matter how many times he said he was fine on his own. He had said that she was the first to talk to him in a long time and now she was leaving him behind._

" _I'll give you a piece of my soul aspect." Harry whirled around to stare at her with wide eyes but he didn't say anything. "I'll give you a piece of my aspect to hold yourself warm in the night." '_ And to remember me' _was left unsaid. She folded her hands together and closed her eyes in concentration. A weak light slipped through the cracks in her folded hands before she unclasped them and handed him a small blue crystal._

_Harry gently took it from her, careful not to touch her hand and pocketed it._

_"I will look after him for you." He said before extending his hand. "It's time to go."_

_She took it with a last glance back before they were gone._

 

~—~—~—~

 

Takeshi had taken to visit the graveyard every weekend after the first meeting with Harry after he had learned was an old friend of kaasan. He told stories about how they met while he showed him how to braid flowers together and what they meant.

"Hey, Kuro!" Harry groaned at the nickname. He had accidentally let it slip what is mom used to call him and now Takeshi used it too because he couldn't pronounce his name. Harry was laying on a thick stone slab that was placed over a grave. He lifted his head in acknowledge before laid back down basking in the warmth of the morning sun that heated up the stone.

"How were you're week Kuro?" A grunt was all the reply he got. "That's good. Mine was pretty good too. I made it into the school's baseball team!" Takeshi had gotten used to the one-sided conversations in the mornings. Harry would use some minutes in his presence before he would unravel himself from whatever he had decided to lay on, and join in the grass and begin to instruct him about new methods to make different things out of the flowers gathered. The flowers were always there when he came looking freshly picked, but many of them didn't even look like it could grow in the country.

"Could you hand me the hibiscus? I need to make a new wreath for a girl a bit further in." Harry said distracted, already working the evergreen trying to make it into a base with a string.

"Here you go Kuro."

"I told you already stop it with the nickname."

 

~—~—~—~

 

_**Hibiscus** _

_In the Japanese language of flowers known as hanakotoba, the hibiscus means "gentle". It is given in honor visitors and represents the friendly customs of the Japanese._

_Dating back to the Victorian era, when flowers adorned clothing, stationery, wallpaper, hats, china and jewelry, the hibiscus means "delicate beauty," relating to the sunny and delicate conditions under which it will bloom and to the fragility and beauty of its flower._

 

~—~—~—~

 

The sun was slowly setting and signaling it was time for Takeshi to go home. Tsuyoshi had been relieved when he had found out that all visits to the graveyard weren't spent mourning and had actually encouraged him to go back when it seemed like the visits were bringing his son's mood up.

"Ah before you leave, I have something to give to you." Harry held three towards Takeshi. The biggest one was packed in old looking black paper, while the others were two small boxes made out of wood bound together with a blood red ribbon.

"The big black one is from your mother. She asked me to give it to you a little before she left. What's in the two boxes are from me. I guess you could call lucky charm or amulet of sorts." Harry began to lead him towards the gate, "Open them when you get home." And with that Harry turned and left him standing at the gate. "See you next week kid." And then he was gone.

Takeshi looked down at the three gifts in his hands before he turned and began to walk back home to open them.

 

~—~—~—~

 

When he finally was inside his room with the door shut behind and had told his tousan he would like not to be disturbed before they should eat.

He dropped the gifts onto the bed and sat beside them. He took the gift from his kaasan first taking the black-bound package into his lab and carefully began to take the string that held it all together off. When the string was gone the packaging almost came off by itself leaving with a small leather-bound book. On the first page was her name written in beautiful calligraphy with blue ink. The rest of the pages was filled out with the same blue ink writing about flowers, old myths, crystal's and pressed plants. There was also drawn seven different colored flames on the last page with something written on them leaving the rest of the book empty. There was nothing other than the flames on the page to indicate what the meaning for them should be, other than ' _rain_ ' written under the blue one.

He closed the book and laid it back down on the sheets and took up the wood boxes and untied the ribbon around them. He slowly wriggled the top off and was met with the sight of soft thin fabric in a deep blue color. When the fabric was gone the thing left was a thick leather bracelet with a Freesia held inside a clear glass-like substance. The flower was frozen in full bloom with its petals filling out the round form that was attached to the leather with a little bit of silver around the bottom. The smooth surface was engraved with what felt like specific patterns but wasn't visible to the naked eye. The leather rim was lined with what looked like runes going all the way around it.

When he was about to close the box, he found a piece of paper lying in the bottom of it. Takeshi took it out still holding the bracelet in the other hand and began to read the message on it.

' _I made two of them. One for you and the other for the one you someday will choose to follow. They are meant to work like a lucky charm if you can call it that. It is meant to try to keep you out of trouble and hard situations._

_The flower will begin to wither and die if the other one is crushed' -Harry._

 

~—~—~—~

 

_**Freesia** _

_Delicate freesias are best known for their dainty bloom and profuse citrus scent. While they are spring blooming in their native environments, they are always in season with the florists because seven or more funnel-shaped blooms open along one side of the stem, they are easy to arrange to show off their beauty._

_The beautiful flower has several related meanings. Freesia blooms typically mean:_

_Innocence,_

_Thoughtfulness,_

_Trust,_

_Friendship,_

_Sweetness,_

_They gained their name when botanist Christian P. Ecklon named them after a fellow botanist, Friedrich H. T. Freese as a tribute to their friendship. It is said that Freesias symbolize friendship to honor the bond between Ecklon and Freese._

_In the Victorian times, when flowers often carried secret messages that dare not be spoken, the freesia symbolized trust._

 

~—~—~—~

 

The first time Yamamoto Takeshi met Sawada Tsunayoshi personally was when he was twelve and had come to the churchyard on a Sunday to visit Harry. It was when he stepped through the gate he was met with the fluffy gravity-defying brown hair and the dark brown eyes that glinted orange in the morning light. In a sunny spot, next Harry was the brunet sitting and listening to something Harry was telling with wide hand movements.

Harry's head shot up when Takeshi set his foot inside the border of the churchyard. The brunet turned too when he saw the teenagers focus shift. He shrieked and leaped for cover behind the nearest thing, that happened to be a tombstone that was half the size he himself was and failed to hide him.

Takeshi stepped further towards them with a nervous laugh and a hand scratching the back of his head. He sent Harry a questioning look but all he got was a small shaking of his head.

"Hey, Kuro." He smiled at the annoying look he got from Harry and waved at him before looking at the brown tuft of hair. "Who's that?"

The brown haired boy slowly walked away from the tombstone to stand behind Harry when the feeling in the back of his head told him it wasn't a threat and the boy apparently knew his Host if you could call Harry that.

"I'm Sawada Tsunayoshi," he said quietly just above a whisper but high enough for Takeshi to hear. "But you can call me Tsuna."

"Ah, you're in my class right? I'm Yamamoto Takeshi." Takeshi smiled at him making him relax a little but didn't step away from Harry a little ashamed over that he couldn't remember who was in his class.

"Are you a friend of Kuro?" The teenager in question just kept on watching without saying anything but let Tsuna hide behind him till he was ready.

"Kuro? You mean Harry? Um, I met him this week?" Tsuna said weakly making his answer sound like a question. "He told me some old folklore after I had come inside to avoid some people." Tsuna hoped he wouldn't look more into what he said not wanting to explain why he had to hide from someone.

Takeshi's eyes sharpen but didn't say anything but send Harry a look which the other just shook his head again.

"Well, I and Kuro come a long way," Takeshi stated with a laugh to which Harry groaned.

"It isn't that long of a time. We met each other two years ago and I only see in the weekends." Harry pointed out.

Takeshi turned to him with a confused look. "Does that mean that I could have come on the other days of the week too? I only thought you were here from Saturday to Sunday!"

"When have I ever said that something that could make you assume that I only was here at the weekend?" Harry deadpanned.

"Well, you didn't say anything about you being here all week long. I missed so many days I could have visited you." Takeshi whined, "Why didn't you say anything?"

"Well you haven't said anything about wanting to be here every single day and I thought you had better things to do in the week. Like school, homework, maybe helping your dad what do I know."

Takeshi sighs knowing it was a lost battle. "But does that mean that I can come here when I feel like it?"

"Do as you please. I just want you to know that I have a job so won't be seeing me every time you barge in."

"Um, Yamamoto-san can I join you..." Tsuna's voice cut in making Takeshi turn to face him making him flustered. "I-I mean I would like to ask if I could join you when you decide to visit Harry. I don't really have anything other to do!" Tsuna said trying to explain with his arms fluttering around him.

Takeshi sent him a bright smile slinging his arm around him to stopping Tsuna's own moving arms.

"Of course. I'll be glad to have you join me."

 

~—~—~—~—~—~—~—~—~—

 


	3. Black Dog

**Black Dog part 1**

**I'm just going to say to all of you who said that you have no idea where this story is going. Just to be clear I... don't know either. Sorry, it's kinda living its own life.**

 

~—~—~—~

 

_Black dogs are by far the most common of the supernatural dog in northern Europe. They are found in Britain and Scandinavia._

_A black dog is normally the size of a calf, with a shaggy black coat and glowing, sometimes fiery eyes. They are always solitary. Some are dangerous, and some are not: black dogs fall into various categories according to their behavior._

 

~—~—~—~

 

If there was one thing that all resident Hibari's knew, it was that the churchyard in the outer reaches of Namimori was not their territory. It was one of the unofficial rules that had been passed on for generations since the first ones to settle down in the town. The only time some from the clan would willingly set foot inside the border of it was when another one of the clan members had lost their lives and was granted a funeral hoping to make them have a peaceful rest.

Kyoya as the only family member that never had had the chance to get on the other side the border (him being the youngest and not lived long enough for a funeral to happen yet) settled with patrolling the area around it and biting people to death that was crowding to close to a private ceremony.

The black dog that laid in front of the gates usually hold most of the herbivores away from the gatherings, but some people were stupid enough to try either way. As he patrolled around it, it pinned him with a look daring him to try to come inside. Kyoya glared right back holding its stare before it blinked and he felt himself come out of a trance. He gave the dog a last glance before he turned, walking down the road hoping to find something to take his frustration out on. It would be just fine if there was a gang waiting to be demolished.

 

~—~—~—~

 

_**Fearful Black dogs** _

_A fearful black dog normally haunts a limited area, and will seek to terrify all who enter that area and drive them away. A variant version in the north and east of England is the '_ _Gally-trot_ ' _, a huge white dog which will only pursue those who run from it._

_The fearful black dog does not always exhibit supernatural powers; sometimes it will simply sit or lie across the road, blocking the passage of anyone who comes along. If attacked it may use a supernatural power to strike the offender blind, dumb, mad or worse by glaring at them with its fiery eyes to defend itself, but if the situation develops into a stand-off the dog will vanish after a while (perhaps out of boredom). Places haunted by a fearful black dog tend to have some evil association - roadside gibbets and places where witches were burnt, for instance. According to some sources, the dogs are the spirits of those wrongly executed, while others suggest that they are the familiars of burnt witches or the spirit of the executed witches themselves._

 

~—~—~—~

 

_The dog was sitting still, almost innocently, blocking the road as it was staring at him with unnatural glowing green eyes, and its teeth bared showing stark white canines._

_A warning growl could be heard as the man took a step closer, trying and failing to go unnoticed by the dog. Sweat began to gather on his forehead as the massive black dog slowly began to raise itself from its sitting position and showed him its full unearthly glory._

_The man's brown hair got caught in the wind as it made the leaves around him rattle and the dust rise of the road into the air. A shiver went down his spine as he tried to turn away with his eyes still plastered to the dog._

_The last thing he saw was the burnt down house at the side of the road before everything went black (whether it was the dog's fur as it threw itself on him or his later blindness, he couldn't tell)._

 

~—~—~—~

 

The third thing that was commonly accepted in the Hibari household was that if a black dog walks beside you or is seen somewhere in the town, no matter what happens you should treat it as an inanimate object and try to ignore it completely. The rule had come into existence after two of the previously clan heads had an ' _unlucky encounter_ ' with one leaving one of the two crippled and the other one blinded for life. The dog was a carnivore at best and at least an omnivore, anyone trying to treat it like a herbivore or even beginning to think about it will be shown wrong in brutal ways or leaving you crazy.

Hibari Kyoya was one of the few that could say with certainty that he had met a black dog and watch it without it attacking him, but of course, nobody would ever hear it slip from his lips. The Black dog myths were one of the few things he would sit still and listen too, other than when he would observing small (cute) animals.

 

~—~—~—~

 

Kyoya was enjoying the quiet and peacefulness in the newly acquired Reception room. Kusakabe had made the arrangements making the room stand in the Disciplinary Committee's name, so he could finally have peace from the noisy herbivores.

The sun was on the way down outside the window and small snowflakes were falling from the sky. Hibari was snapped out of his nap by the sound of paws on the carpet in front of his desk making him straighten in his seat to look. A big black dog had somehow made it inside the room with the door still firmly locked behind it, as it made its way over to the couch in front of a small heater that was warming up the room.

It jumped gracefully up upon the couch making itself comfortable, laying down and curling into a big pile of black fluff. As Kyoya was making himself comfortable in his chair again, a lone green eye opened staring at him blankly, seemingly following his every move until Kyoya had stopped and returned the look. The dog let out a huff of air before it returned to sleep, soaking up the warmth from the heater. Heavy breathing could be heard through the room as Kyoya joined in on the napping, deciding that if the dog didn't bother him he would ignore it in return, following the third unspoken rule.

The peace was however broken a few minutes later when somebody slammed the door open, making him look up at the person standing in the door opening. The boy had dark hair as typical around here but he had height, almost hitting his head against the door opening. The boy cast a shadow inside the room as he stared at Kyoya holding a kendo shinai in his right hand.

"Hibari Kyoya! I challenge you to a fight for the right of the reception room!" The boy clearly a second year, his supposed senpai shouted at him. The teenager glared at him and Kyoya glared right back, already pissed because his nap was interrupted. The dog didn't so much as lift it's head but it's breathing had become lighter again.

"Hn, so it's a lone herbivore trying to get their habitat back from a carnivore." The other teenager bristled in rage at that, his face turning an ugly red color before he moving to attack as Kyoya lifted himself out of the chair, with his tonfas in hand. Kyoya was ready to block an oncoming attack and deal some of his own when the shinai hit the side of the sofa throwing the dog of it with a yelp. The teenager was apparently not used to fight in more closed spaces and had overestimated the wide of his swing. Kyoya watched as the dog left the room with a growl directed at the other boy making Kyoya's bad mode rise again.

"Herbivore for disturbing the peace  _I bite you to death."_

The kendo boy didn't last a minute against the younger as he attacked with his tonfas hoping to draw blood.

 

~—~—~—~

 

_**Resident black dogs** _

_These creatures are very similar to the wandering black dogs as they can have paranormal power used to attack offenders blind, make them insane or make them dumb, except that they haunt a particular place- normally a castle, manor house or other large buildings. They have the habit of appearing at night, making their way to the fire in the great hall, kitchen or guardroom and lying down in front of it. They prefer not to be acknowledged or interfered with in any way but can react in various ways to an annoyance._

_Some merely walk off or disappear and are never to be seen again. The luck of the house's owners or the character who disturbed by the dog, often take a change for the worse at this point, and a character who interferes with a resident black dog may gain the Unluckiness disadvantaged as a result._

_Some resident black dogs may retaliate magically, in the same way as a wandering black dog by fixing its eyes on the offender and use its powers. This can be on the spot, or the creature might lead its tormentor outside (or away from the eyes of others) before striking. It may also vanish at this point, perhaps to seek out a more peaceful lodgings._

_On a few occasions, a resident black dog which is disturbed may flee; if it is followed, it will go to a certain point in the house and disappear, and the place where it disappears will have some significance. There might be a cache of treasure in the floor or walls at that point, or it might be the spot where a prominent member of the family died. Of course, there is no way to tell if whether following a fleeing black dog will lead to a treasure or magical attack._

 

~—~—~—~

 

Kyouya left the room leaving behind the second year unconscious on the floor hoping to find someone to clean up the mess. Just when he turned a corner he spotted a massive furball slowly padding down through the hallway. Kyoya stopped in his tracks before he slowly began to follow the dog, curious as to where it was headed and possible where it had come from.

The dog's claws clicked against the floor tiles as it walked and Hibari's steps near silent a distance behind it, as they made their way in the direction of the exit. Kyoya was enjoying the silence in the hall as most of the herbivores having left, leaving nobody but him and the dog to wander the halls.

The clicks quieted as they came closer to the main entrance, the creature was becoming more and more shadow like they neared the doors. Right as the dog finally reach the exit it turned to look at him with glowing green eyes before it walked through a coincidently open door leading outside. As he flowed the creature out into the night it was gone, leaving him alone in the cold, staring into the darkness.

Just as he was about to make his way back inside again, continuing his search to find someone to clean up the mess, the sound of a thud and a shout was heard towards the main gates. When a yelp of hurt sounded Kyoya was already moving.

Right outside the gates was four teenagers standing in a circle around a young boy that was laying on the ground covering his head. One of the teenagers had a bag in his hands and was looking through it and throwing whatever he found that wasn't interesting enough out on the ground. Suddenly a cheer of triumph was heard as the boy pulled out a wallet and taking the money from the inside.

"I guess you aren't as dame as people think Dame-Tsuna. If you a lowlife could walk around with this much money there must be something you can offer us." One of the bully's said as another one took the money from the first one's hand and began to count them.

" _Ple-_ please give it back. It for  _buying_   _flow_ -" the boy's voice died in his throat as the wannabe gang turned to look at him.

"Why be so selfish Dame-Tsuna? Share a little with us or else I think we might have to teach you a lesson." The boy with the money pocketed it taking a threatening step forward the cowering brunet but before he could do anything, Hibari was between them standing in the middle of the circle with his tonfas reflecting the light from the street lamps.

"For breaking School rules and disturbing the peace of Namimori High  _I will bite you to death."_ He attacked before he was finished speaking, leaving no time for his ' _victims_ ' to prepare themselves.

The teenager was beaten bloody when Hibari finally let them run away in their own limping speed, and one of them leaving a thin blood trail. Kyoya turned to look at the still cowering brunet, tossing his wallet with the money back in it to, the younger. The boy finally looked up when the wallet was lying in front of him, glancing up at Kyoya with an orange glint ( _fire_ ) in his eyes before he blinked and it was gone. He wasn't sure if it was a trick of the light or it actually happened, but the brunet had caught his attention. The boy's name was Sawada something if he remembered correctly. With the unfortunate nickname of Dame-Tsuna.

"Thank you." He looked up from where he was cleaning his tonfas over to the small frame of the boy, and he froze. Not that Tsuna could tell that but Kyoya's mind went blank. That was definitely the first time someone had thanked him for beating people up. As he shook himself out of his thoughts Kyoya just turned and left, beginning to walk back to the school leaving the small herbivore in the snow to do as he pleased as long as he didn't break any rules. As Tsuna began the pack his things into his backpack again he heard Hibari's last words of ' _small animal'_ being carried by the wind. If Kyoya had seen the blinding smile sent his way out in the corner of his eye he didn't say anything. And if people noticed that he beat more people up that had offended the boy with the gravity-defying hair on the streets nobody said a word.

 

~—~—~—~

 

The hallway was spilling with people gathering loudly outside the classrooms, all in all being too noisy, as he should pass. His eyes narrowed as he looked over the clumps of people sparing the corridor.

"Herbivores," the chattering in front of him immediately stopped, everyone froze before turning towards him. "If you don't stop crowding I bite you to death." With those words and the sun glinting against his tonfas the hallway was set in motion again leaving it empty in seconds. Or almost empty with the exemption of two people walking out of a classroom staring at the empty hallway before walking calmly past him the shorter boy being recognized as Sawada (the boy in the snow) carefully had a hand over his own mouth definitely hoping not to make a sound.

They at least had the sense not to talk as they passed him, other than a little 'eep' escaping through the smaller boys hand as he glared at them. Hibari turned with a tsk, leaving them in turn for his duties.

" _Small animal'_

 

~—~—~—~

 

_**Wandering black dogs** _

_Wandering black dogs may be encountered in any rural area, normally at night. The dog is usually encountered by a lone traveler, at most, a group of two or three._

_It is heading in the opposite direction of the traveler(s), and is content to ignore and be ignored. However if anyone should speak to it, try to strike it or take any other action against it, the dog will strike with a paranormal power to take the offenders sight, intelligence, make them lose their minds or worse. It can do this simply by stopping and fixing the victim with its fiery eyes, although it does not even need to do this; the effect seems to be spell-like rather than its gaze being a weapon._

 

~—~—~—~

 

_The man was walking almost gracefully, down a dark alley, the streets lights having been smashed and too little people lived here for it to be important. The moonlight was shining down from over the apartments making his gun glint and his fedora cast a shadow over his eyes._

_There was blood staining his shirt and a handkerchief he was using to wipe the dark substance of his hands. His steps echoed in the dark as he walked past the abounded buildings, his sideburns bouncing a little with each step._

_The man looked up from his hands when the sound of something else joining him in the dark. The shadows shifted in front of him, black fur reflecting the moonlighting giving the creature form as the sounds of claws clicking against the stones in the ground got louder as it got closer. The dog didn't as much as look at him as it walked forward, ignoring him completely. The man continued moving, walking past the dark creature making sure to have an eye on it until he turned a corner and it was out of sight. As the man left the shady part of the city leaving a dead man in his wake, he couldn't shake off the feeling that something of importance had just happened._

_A scream could be heard as a dog attacked a drunk man that in his haze had kicked out after it as it had been moving past. The body was found in the morning, his corpse lying in a pool of his own blood, bloody paw prints leading away from the scene disappearing after a corner to a dead end._

 

~—~—~—~

 

Then the day he finally could walk beyond the border of the churchyard, the place that had always been off-limits, had come. And the day came the only way it could, with death. More specifically the death of his parents, brought by people that had apparently been an old annoyance of his mother. Two graves were lying side by side with each other in the graveyard, with people clad in black surrounding them, crowding. Nobody said a word as the dirt was thrown on, only not so hidden glances shot his way but refusing to meet his eyes. Pathetic.

Most of the Hibari clan had moved away from China and their origin, almost everyone finding a place for themselves across the world. The main branch had chosen Namimori as theirs a long time ago so not many of the others had really hoped to set a foot inside the town without permission from the Head. But seeing as the Head and his wife was gone almost everyone had come to say their prayers. It surprised Kyoya how many actually bothered to come to the town to see the last of someone most hadn't seen in years, he just wished that they wouldn't act like herbivores, skittering around the edges. If only the baby carnivore had shown up, everyone would at least act decently. Kyoya might not like his supposed uncle and he would never admit it but gathering with the rest of the clan was more bearable with him around.

It figures that as soon as the ceremony had ended they all would flee only a few staying long enough to try and get him to move to someplace with ' _adult supervision'_ as if they weren't all weaker than him. They left after he showed he could take care of himself and didn't need a crowd like a herbivore.

When finally everyone was gone and everything was done, Kyoya went home to an empty house. As he made his way inside, walking in complete darkness moving by memories of a place long-lived, he went to the training room. Closing the door behind him, he walked into the middle and sat down staring out of a window right up at the moon, that was illuminating the room.

He looked down at his hands in his lap tracing the bandages on one of them with the other and glared at it in concentrate. When nothing happened he lifted it up in front of his face and glared harder, trying to will forward the same feeling as before. Second became minutes before something finally happened.

The room was lightened up by a bright purple flame dancing across his fingertips. As Kyoya stared at the fire the green eyes i the corner disappeared again leaving a small wooden box in its place, the runes on the side reacting to the amethyst light, glowing themselves in the quiet night.

 

~—~—~—~

 

"Ah Tsuna, before you leave can I ask for a favor?" Harry asked leaning up against a gravestone.

Tsuna looked up at Harry from his sitting position on the ground, tilting his head in confusion.

"Yeah sure, what do you need Kuro?"

Harry gave a lazy grin as he answered, "it's probably a bit much but can you ask your mother if she could make an extra bento tomorrow, so you can bring it to school with you. With hamburger steak, if she could."

"Yeah, I'm sure she would love too. She has something with making food for others." Tsuna said eagerly before he paused, "what am I going to do with it through?"

"If you could give it to Hibari Kyoya, that would be great." Harry nodded to himself.

"HEEII" Tsuna shot of the ground in shock as he titled against one of the gravestones. "Hibari Kyoya as  _the_  Hibari Kyoya that is the president of the Disciplinary Committee  _and_  is going around beating people up that break the rules, that Hibari-san?" He asked bewildered.

"Yep, that would be him. If you go to the rooftop of the school around lunchtime I'm sure you can find him." Harry said completely ignoring Tsuna's outburst.

Tsuna calmed himself a little by Harry's own calm tone and asked his next question quieter. "But why exactly would he need a bento from my mom?" Harry looked away with a sad look in his eyes letting the silence hang in the ait before he answered.

"I'm just sure he could need it right now." And that was the end of the discussion. Tsuna just nodded without saying a word and began to gather his things before he left out the gates with a goodbye. On his way home he wondered if Harry's sad expression had anything to do with the two new graves they made flowers for.

 

~—~—~—~—~—~—~—~—~

 

**If anyone is wondering what the second unofficial rule is, it obviously 'Namimori is theirs'.**

**Thank you for the reviews, it wonderful to know that you like my story and it's my motivation to get the next chapter done and upload it faster.**


End file.
